VW launches investigation into ‘defeat device’ allegations

Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation after US regulators discovered software in certain diesel models that circumvents emissions standards.

Consequently, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it is issuing a notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to Volkswagen, alleging that certain four-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars from 2009-2015 contain the so-called defeat device, an algorithm in the ECU that identifies when a vehicle is on a rolling road for emissions testing and de-rates the engine accordingly.

In a separate action, California is issuing an In-Use Compliance letter to Volkswagen, and EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have both initiated investigations based on Volkswagen’s alleged actions.

Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said: “Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health.

“Working closely with the California Air Resources Board, EPA is committed to making sure that all automakers play by the same rules. EPA will continue to investigate these very serious matters.”

According to EPA, a sophisticated software algorithm on certain Volkswagen vehicles detects when the car is undergoing official emissions testing, and turns full emissions controls on only during the test.

The effectiveness of these vehicles’ pollution emissions control devices is greatly reduced during all normal driving situations, resulting in cars that meet emissions standards in the laboratory or testing station, but during normal operation, emit nitrogen oxides, or NOx, at up to 40 times the standard. The software produced by Volkswagen is a “defeat device,” as defined by the Clean Air Act, which requires vehicle manufacturers to certify to EPA that their products will meet applicable federal emission standards to control air pollution, and every vehicle sold in the US must be covered by an EPA-issued certificate of conformity.

EPA and CARB uncovered the defeat device software after independent analysis by researchers at West Virginia University. VW may be liable for civil penalties and injunctive relief for the violations alleged in the NOV.

“The Board of Management at Volkswagen AG takes these findings very seriously,” said Prof. Dr Martin Winterkorn, CEO OF Volkswagen. “I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public. We will cooperate fully with the responsible agencies, with transparency and urgency, to clearly, openly, and completely establish all of the facts of this case. Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation of this matter.”

The allegations cover roughly 482,000-diesel passenger cars sold in the United States since 2008.

This revelation comes at the worst possible moment for the diesel car market – a time of heightened concern about the health effects of NOx emissions and their overall levels in Europe and around the world.

At the moment the investigation by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is focused on certain models of diesel-engine cars sold in the US, but there are already signs that regulators around the world are considering taking action.

The disparity between the real world performance of diesel-engine cars and laboratory test results has long been viewed as a ticking time bomb and revelations surrounding VW’s emissions-rigging have pushed the issue into the spotlight. Environmentalists and manufacturers alike are now determined to know the cause of this disparity.

From a supply chain perspective, the revelations are likely to lead to a sharp fall in demand for diesel engine cars. In the US, the diesel car market currently represents around 1% of all new car sales and this is unlikely to increase in the short to medium term.

However, in Europe the impact could be much more significant, leading to a large tranche of the market switching to petrol engine cars virtually overnight.

UK-based component manufacturers of specialist transmission systems and emissions control equipment for diesel engine car models are likely to lose out and many suppliers will be forced to scramble to meet the shift in demand. Suppliers will be hoping that any uptick in demand for petrol engine cars will compensate for any dip in demand for diesel car components.

Henri Winand, CEO Intelligent Energy

The VW news highlights the increasing struggle that vehicle manufacturers face in order to meet stringent emissions targets. Vehicle emissions until now have been a somewhat diffused issue much like the pollution haze hanging above cities but this news highlights it is here and now and urgent action needs to be taken.

Therefore, the situation that OEMs find themselves in is twofold. Firstly, customers no longer want to be attached to brands that are bad for the environment. With widespread national coverage of this story, we can no longer assume that consumers don’t know the effect that the products they buy have on the environment. Secondly, on a purely economic level, the status quo is not viable either.

The recent trend of fuel cell electric vehicle products from mass market OEMs hitting the consumer market shows that many in the industry are working to see the transition to true zero tailpipe emission mobility occur as quickly as possible.

Presumably this skill, whilst clearly improper, is exactly the type of ‘thinking’ that those engaged either in (or trying to detect) covert activities in the whole field of IT, now need to learn about and use! Poachers turned game-keepers.
I have opined several times recently that the advances in technology, programming, testing, the entire gamut of electronics is proceeding at such a pace that it is soon going to be quite impossible for non-technologists to either detect or control or even punish violations. I watched our Chancellor speaking about Nuclear matters in China: clearly he, and most of his ilk, have virtually no idea whatsoever of what they are talking about: and the implication(s) of what they are proposing.
Best
Mike B

It’s not a device but just a few lines of code to examine the outputs of the accelerometers and if the vehicle is not moving then stationary so enable the emmissions controls. If moving then disable the emmissions controls.

Very easy to hide this in several thousand lines of code spread amongst all the micro’s within modern vehicles

Following on from Mike B’s point about the chancellor and his ilk, it also seems quite clear that in the science and technology based world we now live in, the type of politicians we currently have are poorly suited to the task of governing. Decisions are likely to be based on political expediency even in the face of expert advice.

This does NOT surprise me at all: several years ago I was considerning buying a Plasma TV from Panasonic, as its “Viera” top models were considered the best commercially available, but some knowledgeable aficionados in USA detected a small but perfectly discernable picture quality loss (contrast went down) after some months of use; the remarkable deep blacks were suddenly disappearing from the display, to be replaced by very dark gray hues. This was traced to be caused by the damn “firmware” reducing contrast in order to make the plasma panel endure the promised number of hours, but picture quality suffered. When the amateurs tested the plasma panels with some calibrated instruments, they fully confirmed that Panasonic was cheating on its consumers. The damn company denied any wrong doing, stating that their televisions were working “as designed”, and refused to reléase a proper firmware fix. The consumers sued and won a “Class Action Suite” but they were so many of them that everyone received very little money actually. (even when Panasonic lost millions).
Another case of fraudulent use of software is present in many LapTop computers, which begin to falsely report that their batteries are almost “empty” more and more frequently after a couple of years, in order to convince the owner that he/she needs a new battery, even when the battery cells are at above 90% of useful remaining life and recharging capacity. Cheating on the unsuspecting consumer is the new wave of fraudulent programmers and CEO’s at equally fraudulent companies.

These stupid programmers need to be jailed for their fraudulent actions, exactly alike hackers and common fraudsters.

And hands up anyone who thinks this is the only manufacturer fiddling results? At least VWs tend to give the fuel consumption (mine noticeably exceeds it) they indicate so their total pollution levels are roughly as claimed, unlike several Korean vehicles I’ve driven which give about 2/3rds their stated mpg. If this exposes the farcical world of emissions and emissions tests VW may have done us all a favour.

“The government released this discovery, alongside its useless proposals for dealing with the problem, on Saturday 12 September, a few minutes before Jeremy Corbyn’s election as Labour leader was announced. How many government press releases are published on a Saturday? How many are published on a Saturday during an event on which everyone is focused? In other words, as a Labour press officer once notoriously advised, this was a good day to bury bad news.”http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/22/volkswagen-air-pollution-uk-poisoning-government-legislation

“The corporate giants can get away with anything in the UK. Amidst all the furore about a price hike for AIDS drugs, there has been no mention, apart from Private Eye, about Pfizer hiking the cost to the NHS for epilepsy drugs between 2012 & 2013, from £2.3m to £50m.”

Whether it’s the car industry, or Big Pharma, or nuclear power, or fracking, or financial services, if the motivation of private profit is allowed free rein under a laissez faire ideology, society and the economy will always be at the mercy of these unethical parasites.

“….detects when the car is undergoing official (when some regulatory authority is watching) emissions testing, and turns full emissions controls on (we alter our behaviour to match what is required) only during the test.”

Let us NOT be too critical! We have all done the same at times.(eg elections?) Indeed some elements of our society ONLY do that.

What a good job that we have the ‘meja’ -both popular and specialist (such as our own august journal) to keep an eye on things and highlight errors, weakness, failure, mistakes, misconduct. wait a minute though…we have Courts for that sort of thing. Well, don’t we. But how (and why) would they so when they are getting a slice of the ‘action’? Answers by quill-pen on a post-card please: because who knows who has been fiddling the programme and the code(s) on our lap-tops.
Mike b